One of the nice things about living so close to the Canadian border is the ease of crossing into Canada for a quick day trip or a long weekend.

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Just before the Canadian border closed because of the pandemic in 2020, my family spent a weekend in Ottawa, stopping at a Canada Goose store inside the Rideau Centre where I found a coat for my little boy on clearance. I paid maybe, a whole $25 U.S. dollars for the coat which I found out later regularly retails for an astounding $650.

My little boy has outgrown his coat and it's been passed on to another child, but I'll give you the same warning I gave the mother of the child who now wears it - be careful.

Canada Goose Coat Targets

I never imagined I'd be passing along a warning like this, but armed robbers have been targeting individuals wearing Canada Goose coats. To the best of my knowledge, there have been no armed robberies of anyone wearing the coat brand in Upstate New York, but given our proximity to Canada and the number of New Yorkers who wear the brand, I thought it might not be a bad idea to give you a heads up.

The most recent armed robberies of people wearing Canada Goose coats have been happening in the Washington, D.C. area (in broad daylight no less) and it's happened so often that law enforcement has issued warnings to owners of Canada Goose coats to be extra cautious. Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Patrick Loftus told the BBC, "Property is not worth your life. Give away that property, try to get a good description of that person, and we want people to call 911."

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Armed robberies of Canada Goose coats have also been reported in other cities and towns across the United States. So, it's better to be aware and cautious and give up your coat if you end up in a dangerous situation than it is to be completely unaware and to fight back. Once again, we don't know of any armed robberies in Upstate New York, but erring on the side of caution is never a bad thing.

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